Feist

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Biography

Feist (born Leslie Feist, 13.2.1976)

Feist is a Canadian singer-songwriter and was formerly a member of the band Broken Social Scene.

Childhood: Leslie Feist was born in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. Both of her parents were artists but divorced soon after she was born. Leslie, her brother Ben and their mother, moved to Regina, Saskatchewan and lived with her grandparents. Her father was American and she therefore has dual nationality.

As a child, Feist sang in local choirs and when she was 12, she was one of the 1000 dancers performing at the opening ceremony for the Calgary Winter Olympics.

At the age of 15, Feist founded a punk band in Calgary named Placebo (not the European band of the same name). Placebo won a battle of the bands competition and earned a slot at the Infest festival. At the festival, she met Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew. 10 years later, she would form Broken Social Scene with them.

Music Career: In 1996, Feist moved to Toronto and was invited by Noah Mintz to play the bass guitar in his band Noah's Arkweld. Two years later, she started playing guitar in the band By Divine Right, with whom she toured until 2000.

In 1999, Feist became flat-mates with Merrill Nisker, better known as the electro-clash performer Peaches. Feist often performed onstage with Peaches, operating a sock puppet called Bitch Lap Lap. In 2000-2001, the pair stayed with M.I.A. and Justine Frischmann of Elastica whilst they stayed in England. She made an appearance on Peaches' album The Teaches of Peaches, as well as beginning her string of collaborations with Gonzales.

In 1999, Feist released her first solo album. Entitled Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down), the album included the song 'That's What I Say, It's Not What I Mean.' The album was produced by Dan Kurtz, later of the band Dragonette.

In 2001, Feist formed Broken Social Scene with a group of friends. The band recorded the album You Forgot It In People. She also re-recorded the songs from her Red Demos collection, which became her next album, Let It Die. Following the release of the album, Feist moved to Paris and also worked with Norwegian band Kings of Convenience, on their Riot On An Empty Street album. She also duetted with Jane Birkin on 'The Simple Story', from Birkin's album Rendezvous.

In 2006, Feist released an album of collaborations and remix projects, entitled Open Season. Friends working on the album include Gonzales and Jamie Lidell.

Open Season was followed by The Reminder. Her biggest hit to date, the album spawned the popular single '1234'. The song was chosen to soundtrack an iPod advert and became a hit. The album has been certified gold in the USA. Feist performed the song on Sesame Street.

Feist's fifth album has a lot of promise if you base your expectations on the first single and eponymous title track 'Pleasure'. The Canadian musician demonstrated a raw and starkly lo-fi sound that she's only occasionally hinted at with her opening salvo. It was a distinct move towards Punk Rock away from her more Folk inspired roots. Unfortunately it's not an ethos that permeates the whole record making it feel frustratingly less bold than it should do.

Leslie Feist has taken six years to concoct her follow up to 2011's Metals, which hit a creative and commercial high point for the 41 year-old. Pleasure certainly has moments of anger and beauty, but it seems to lack conviction when it comes to committing to a particular emotional theme. The aforementioned single quite rightly drew comparisons with PJ Harvey as Feist growled her choruses and unleashed some violent outbursts of guitar. That song feels tense, menacing, explosive, and exciting as she tells us "It's my pleasure in your pleasure". There are too many familiar sedate moments elsewhere on the album to maintain that feeling though. It's not really pedestrian as Feist is always creative, just under whelming, especially in the album's closing moments.

There are tracks which succeed in grabbing your attention, demonstrating that Feist's music is most arresting when she allows her performance to become stark and visceral. The centrepiece of the album 'Any Party' lays bare her internal struggles ("You know I'd leave any party for you".) alongside some gloriously spiky guitars. It's like a Punk Rock ballad with a surprise ending. Feist alternates between delicate verses and choruses that sound like violent outbursts in comparison. However shortly after she introduces backing vocals to simulate a crowd, she quite literally leaves the party as we hear footsteps walk into the night inhabited by a dog, a train, and even a passing car playing the title track of the album. Allowing her songs to develop in unusual ways is a trick she uses elsewhere too. 'Century' unexpectedly introduces a spoken word deconstruction of time that Jarvis Cocker would be proud of, and 'A Man Is Not His Song' finds room for a heavy Rock riff which creeps in as the track fades.

Returning after seven years with a new single, 'Halfway Home', is Canadian collective Broken Social Scene. They've also got a new album on the way, but don't expect to get to hear it until Fall time, unless of course you catch them live during their summer dates.

Broken Social Scene return with their first album in seven years

Broken Social Scene are finally set to return with a new album this year, following 2010's Canadian number one 'Forgiveness Rock Record'. 'Halfway Home' is the first track to be released from the record; a soaring, uplifting tune which they performed live for the very first time on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' yesterday (March 30th 2017). Metric's Emily Haines and James Shaw, and Amy Millan and Evan Cranley of Stars joined them for the show.

Feist has finally returned with her fifth studio album 'Pleasure' coming later this Spring, and she has just unveiled the irresistable guitar-led title track. The four-time Grammy Award nominated singer also has a handful of live appearances coming up in her home nation of Canada.

Feist is back with a brand new album

The 11-track album is her first record in six years. Recorded at studios in New York and Paris over a period of three months, Feist worked with producers Renaud Letang and Mocky, with whom she also worked on her previous albums 'Metals', 'The Reminder' and 'Let It Die'.

Leslie Feist and Martin Kierszenbaum - The Cherrytree 10th anniversary musical celebration of Ten Incredible Years of Pop Alternative Music at Webster Hall - Arrivals and Inside - New York City, New York, United States - Monday 9th March 2015

Feist and Leslie Feist - Photos from the 2014 United Nations Equator Prize in which 25 local sustainable development solutions for people, nature and resilient communities are recognized, held in New York City, New York, United States - Monday 22nd September 2014

Daft Punk are back at last, with their first studio album in eight years due to be released in May 2013. The French electronic dance duo, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo have signed a new recording deal with the Sony-owned Columbia label, according to The Guardian. This will be the fourth studio album from Daft Punk. Their last, Human After All was released in 2005, though they also created the soundtrack to Tron: Legacy in 2010.

So far, the details of the fourth album are limited but one thing seems to be certain: anyone expecting to see Daft Punk touring in support of the album is likely to be disappointed. There were rumors flying around that they would headline one of the days at Coachella. That proved unfounded, with the Coachella line-up now announced and not including the French dance act. BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank – who also curates Bestival on the Isle of Wight – has revealed that he was told Daft Punk would not be touring in 2013. The last time they played the UK was in 2007, at the Wireless festival.

What is known about Daft Punk’s movements in this lengthy gap between releases is that they have been collaborating with the likes of Chic’s Nile Rogers, Feist collaborator Chilly Gonzales and Animal Collective’s Panda Bear. They’re also said to have been working with the legendary disco pioneer Giorgio Moroder, though it’s unclear how much of the material they’ve worked on over the last few years will actually make it onto the 2013 album release. Mystery may shroud this Daft Punk release but word of its arrival is still bug news for Daft Punk fans. The wait is finally over.

The tracklisting for Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 has finally been announced, via Yahoo and amongst the highlights of this latest instalment are Green Day, Passion Pit and Ellie Goulding. Green Day, obviously are a pretty big coup for the compilers of the soundtrack (Summit Entertainment release the album in collaboration with Chop Shop Records and Atlantic Records) and the band’s bass player Mike Dirnt spoke to Yahoo! about contributing their track ‘The Forgotten’ and said “When we were asked to be part of the 'Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 2' soundtrack, we readily agreed because the films are an insane cultural phenomenon, and we have always been impressed with the way the 'Twilight' soundtracks are so carefully curated.”

Ellie Goulding’s track will draw attention to the soundtrack too, not only because it’s an exclusive track but because it’s the first track that she’s released, to have been produced by her new boyfriend Skrillex. Following in the vein of slightly kooky female artists, St. Vincent and Feist have both contributed a track; both will undoubtedly make an excellent accompaniment to the dark, moody atmosphere of the Twilight movie.

Coming from a slightly more mainstream angle, Christina Perri returns with ‘A Thousand Years (Part Two)’. Naturally, it’s a follow on from her theme to the first installment of Breaking Dawn and Perri was almost a dead cert to be included on this final musical bow. She’s such a fan of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga that she has the word ‘Bitten’ tattooed on her, in the Twilight font. She told Yahoo! “I am so honored and excited to be involved again in this final film and soundtrack.” She revealed that part two of the track will be different but hasn’t yet said how and the tracks are yet to be released. “It's not the same [as the original]... you'll just have to wait and see how,” she teased.